Teresa McDowell

Professor and Department Chair

Rogers Hall

Teresa McDowell is a professor and chair of the Department of Counseling Psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Counseling at Lewis & Clark College. Teresa has spent much of her career working to re-envision marriage and family therapy education in ways that better support social equity and cultural democracy. Her scholarship has focused on 1) integrating critical social theory into family therapy practice, 2) bridging social awareness and equity-based practice, and systemic treatment of problem gambling. She is a long time clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor.

Prior to coming to Lewis & Clark College, Teresa taught at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in Storrs, CT. While there, she served as Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Doctoral and Master’s programs. Teresa also taught family therapy at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) in Tacoma WA and at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, IL. She has directed university family therapy clinics at NIU, PLU, and UConn. Originally from Arizona, Teresa has spent most of her adult life in the Northwest.

Personal Statement

In my teaching, I attempt to create equity based, collaborative learning communities where learners can act as critical thinkers, value their own voices, see themselves as knowledge creators, and engage in dialogues of difference. I encourage participants in the learning process to become aware of the origins of their world views in ways that empower them to consider their preferred assumptions within a framework of power, privilege and liberation.

Areas of Expertise

Marriage and Family Therapy and MFT education, Critical social theory in the practice of family therapy, Internationalizing family therapy, Problem Gambling Treatment, AAMFT Approved Supervisor/Supervision

Current Research

Teresa’s scholarship centers the integration of critical social theory in the practice of family therapy. She and her colleagues, Carmen Knudson-Martin and J. Maria Bermudez, have recently written a book entitled “Socially Attuned Family Therapy: Guideline for Clinical Practice.” As an educator and clinical supervisor, Teresa encourages recognizing and challenging power inequities that are foundational to mental health and relational problems.

Academic Credentials

From the Newsroom

Professors Marisol Garcia Westberg and Teresa McDowell have a new article titled “Peace on Earth, War at Home: The Role of Emotion Regulation in Social Justice Work” in the March 2015 issue of the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy (the article is co-authored by Iva Kosutic).

Kids who want to do everything right can be paralyzed by the fear of doing something wrong. In a blog post on the Oregonian website about handling perfectionists, professor Teresa McDowell advises that it can be helpful for such kids to learn to fail on purpose.